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Case Western Reserve launches first Executive Education partnership with a law firm

Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management Executive Education program has formed its first partnership with a law firm, Tucker Ellis, to provide emotional intelligence training.

This fall, a group of attorneys from Tucker Ellis—a full-service law firm with more than 215 attorneys and offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and St. Louis—will take three in-person training sessions and work closely with executive coaches from the Weatherhead School between each class.

Another group will take an online program teaching the same competencies as the in-person training.

Melvin Smith
Melvin Smith

“Though there are universal characteristics and common principles of leadership across industries, each unique environment, including the legal community, has its own challenges that guide us back to core competencies—such as improving one’s emotional intelligence—that are rooted in decades of research and experience,” said Melvin Smith, faculty director of Executive Education at the Weatherhead School, where he’s also a professor of organizational behavior.

The program is a natural extension of a three-year-old partnership between the Weatherhead School and the CWRU School of Law to embed emotional intelligence topics into its curriculum.

“Attorneys not only need to demonstrate knowledge and confidence to clients, but they also build relationships that can deepen when becoming more emotionally intelligent,” said Denise Douglas, associate dean of Executive Education at the Weatherhead School. “Having high emotional intelligence helps leaders relate to a diversity of clients and act as trusted advisors to bring about favorable outcomes.”

Denise Douglas
Denise Douglas

Last year, more than 3,000 people, representing nearly 600 organizations, took advantage of the Weatherhead School’s portfolio of more than 70 programs in Executive Education, which dive deep into complex business theories in brief periods of time to yield immediate and substantial professional development results.

The Weatherhead School-Tucker Ellis partnership grew out of relationships made when Smith was invited to present for the firm’s leadership at a retreat a few years ago.

“I give the Tucker Ellis team credit for venturing into new territory. In many ways, we’re building this bridge together as we walk on it—and that is exciting and motivating,” said Smith. “This will open up new avenues for their leaders and clients and could pave the way for new applications for our programs in Executive Education.”